Policeman kills blasphemy accused in Pakistan jail

A Pakistani policeman shot two men in jail on Thursday, killing one accused of blasphemy and wounding another condemned to death on the same charge, lawyers and an activist said. Pastor Zafar Bhatti was killed and 70-year-old Briton Muhammad Asghar, who has a history of mental illness, was wounded in the attack in Rawalpindi. Mr. Bhatti was on trial after an Islamic leader accused him in 2012 of sending text messages derogatory to the Prophet Muhammadâ€™s mother. His family say police investigations show the phone was registered to someone else. In recent weeks, Mr. Bhatti had received death threats in prison from both inmates and guards, his family told Pakistan-based human rights group Life for All. He was being held in the same cell as Asghar. â€œThis is a barbaric act. There had been threats. The court should have instructed police to ensure Bhatti's safety,â€ said Xavier Williams of Life for All. â€œKilling of a person who was falsely accused is mockery of the judicial system. The protectors of the innocent have become the predators.â€ Asghar, from Edinburgh, was arrested in 2010 and sentenced to death in January after a disgruntled tenant presented letters he had written saying he was a prophet. Asghar had previously been detained under the mental health act in Britain and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to documents his lawyers supplied to Reuters. His lawyers were barred from attending the last few months of his trial. The law firm asked not to be identified for fear of being targeted by extremists. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan.

Had the policeman let Muhammad Asghar live.... pakiland could have seen the birth of a new religion of peace....where he was god's latest and lastest messenger..... uff, how much the world now misses the new revelations...

sghar, from Edinburgh, was arrested in 2010 and sentenced to death in January after a disgruntled tenant presented letters he had written saying he was a prophet. Asghar had previously been detained under the mental health act in Britain and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to documents his lawyers supplied to Reuters.

Shows how systemic Pakistan's problems are.. with rogue elements infiltrating ever arms of the state... the recent attempt in Karachi naval yard to commandeer a frigate had confirmed that ... It is fast reaching a state where anybody who opposes the diktats of the talibanised deep state could be bumped off by the very agencies that are expected to protect them.

A Pakistani policeman shot two men in jail on Thursday, killing one accused of blasphemy and wounding another condemned to death on the same charge, lawyers and an activist said. Pastor Zafar Bhatti was killed and 70-year-old Briton Muhammad Asghar, who has a history of mental illness, was wounded in the attack in Rawalpindi. Mr. Bhatti was on trial after an Islamic leader accused him in 2012 of sending text messages derogatory to the Prophet Muhammadâ€™s mother. His family say police investigations show the phone was registered to someone else. In recent weeks, Mr. Bhatti had received death threats in prison from both inmates and guards, his family told Pakistan-based human rights group Life for All. He was being held in the same cell as Asghar. â€œThis is a barbaric act. There had been threats. The court should have instructed police to ensure Bhatti's safety,â€ said Xavier Williams of Life for All. â€œKilling of a person who was falsely accused is mockery of the judicial system. The protectors of the innocent have become the predators.â€ Asghar, from Edinburgh, was arrested in 2010 and sentenced to death in January after a disgruntled tenant presented letters he had written saying he was a prophet. Asghar had previously been detained under the mental health act in Britain and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to documents his lawyers supplied to Reuters. His lawyers were barred from attending the last few months of his trial. The law firm asked not to be identified for fear of being targeted by extremists. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan.